Laško (pokopališče Laško) - Govško brdo (past shepherd's chapel)

Access to starting point:
We drive into Laško, where we park in the parking lot by the Laško cemetery.

Route description:
From the parking lot by the cemetery we continue on the road which is situated between the flower shop and the railway, and a little further we also pass by the technical inspections and the Laško municipal services. After a few minutes, we reach a crossroad where we notice the first hiking signposts.
We head along the path towards Šmihel, Govško brdo, and in the direction of signs for the Srečno path and the Rečica circular trail. Initially, we ascend past a few more houses, then climb in zigzags through a forest for a few minutes. Higher up, the road levels out, we leave the forest, and soon reach a crossroad where a path from the left, passing the church of St. Christopher, joins us.
Here, we continue straight, and shortly after, we arrive at two consecutive crossroads.
From the first crossroad, where a road branches off to the right towards some houses, we continue straight; from the second, where a path branches off to the right towards the church of St. Michael on Šmihel, we also continue straight. Further, we descend for a short time through the forest, then leave the forest and, with a gentle ascent, reach the settlement Kuretno, where we see the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria in front of us. Here at a smaller crossroad, we continue slightly to the right, and then we are already near the church, which is situated slightly to the left of the path.
We bypass the church on the right side and continue along the path on an asphalt road. Further, we walk for some time through the forest, and at a chapel, the asphalt ends; from the crossroad, we continue straight in the direction towards Govce. Next follows a slightly longer walk on a macadam road, where we pass by individual older houses, and the path continues with a few shorter ascents and descents. After a larger meadow, we ascend a bit more steeply and, along the periphery of the settlement Trnov Hrib, temporarily step onto an asphalt road. Here we keep to the right turn-offs or the marked path; the macadam road we continue on leads us into the forest, where we pass by a small lake. When we leave the forest, we also pass by a beehive and reach a crossroad by the mining museum.
Before the museum, we go right on the path towards Govško brdo (straight to the Zavrate saddle), where, after a short ascent, we join the path from the Rečica valley. Here we go left and continue on a wider cart track, quickly reaching the hunting lodge Lovski dom na Govcah, which we notice on the right by the path.
At the hunting lodge, the path splits, and we head towards the shepherd's chapel (slightly left, the usual path from Govce to Govško brdo). A little further, as the path enters the forest, we notice a blaze on a tree, but further on, blazes are mostly absent. Higher up, the path splits, and we continue left towards the shepherd's chapel, reaching it in a minute of additional walking after crossing a short, steeper slope.
We bypass the shepherd's chapel on the left side; from a small crossroad a few dozen steps ahead, we go right (left downwards joins the previously mentioned usual path to Govško brdo). Next follows a short, steep ascent, and we return to the path that bypassed the shepherd's chapel on the right side, following it left upwards. Further, the path turns slightly to the left and then mostly ascends diagonally to the left; higher up, at a small saddle, we reach the eastern ridge of Govško brdo, where blazes reappear.
We follow the ridge path to the left (the right path leads through the eastern secondary peak towards the Rečica valley), ascending more steeply for some time; when the ridge flattens, we join the usual beaten path.
Here we continue straight (sharply left to Govce) and, in a few minutes of moderate ascent along a forested ridge, reach Govško brdo.
Laško - Kuretno 0:40, Kuretno - Govce 1:05, Govce - shepherd's chapel 0:15, shepherd's chapel - Govško brdo 0:35.
Description and pictures refer to conditions in April 2023.

Along the route: Sveta Katarina (Kuretno) (419m), Trnov Hrib (501m), Lovski dom Govce (565m), Pastirska kapelica (640m)

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